Government’s defense of the travel ban has parallels with its internment of Japanese-Americans in World War II

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In briefs filed with federal appeals courts considering the Trump administration’s Muslim travel ban, the MacArthur Justice Center has urged the court not to overlook President Trump’s extensive record of animus toward people of the Muslim faith and documented his “targeted and sustained attack on Muslims.”

Federal judges in Maryland and Hawaii have blocked the administration’s 90-ban on entry for people from six Muslim-majority counties, relying upon numerous statements by Trump that expose his intent to discriminate against Muslims. In the first of these rulings, Judge Derrick K. Watson relied upon the MacArthur Justice Center’s friend-of-the-court brief, citing it as a resource for Trump’s extensive record of animus toward Muslims.

“President Trump has sought to vilify people of the Muslim faith and promised to use the power of the Executive to oppress Muslims in various ways, including by shutting down mosques, surveilling and profiling Muslims, registering them, and preventing them from entering the country,” our latest briefs explain.

Comparing the travel ban with the U.S. government’s internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, the briefs state: “President Trump’s Executive Order must be viewed in light of his repeated and unabashed admission of an intent to discriminate against a minority group . . . .. The Government’s contention — that such Executive action is unreviewable or entitled to deference due to its relation to immigration and national security — is painfully reminiscent of arguments made by the Government to justify racial discrimination and oppression in moments of our history that we now all regard with shame.”

“The MacArthur Justice Center urges the Court not to repeat this depraved moment in U.S. history by overlooking this administration’s animus against persons of the Muslim faith,” the briefs conclude.